VANCOUVER, BC – November 4, 2026 – TheNewswire - Viva Gold Corp. (TSXV: VAU; OTCQB: VAUCF) (the “Company” or “Viva”) is pleased to provide an update on the work programs underway at its 100%-owned Tonopah Gold Project (“Tonopah,” or the “Project”). Tonopah is located on the prolific Walker Lane Structural Trend in western Nevada, approximately a 30-minute drive south of Kinross Gold’s Round Mountain Mine. Work at Tonopah is advancing on three parallel tracks: completion of the Pre-Feasibility Study (“PFS”); the environmental baseline studies required to support mine permitting; and follow-up drilling at the Midway Hills discovery announced in July 2026. Together, these programs are designed to carry Tonopah from the study stage into formal mine permitting.

 

Highlights:

 

• The Tonopah PFS remains on schedule for completion in late Q4 2026. Mine design is substantially complete and detailed costing is underway. A detailed trade-off study on plant sizing, based on a larger resource estimate that incorporates 2026 drilling, has been completed. The PFS will be based on a 3,000-tonne-per-day gravity/CIL mill for higher-grade mineralization and a 7,000-tonne-per-day heap leach for lower-grade mineralization. 

 

• A 1,000-meter core drilling program is underway at the Midway Hills discovery, located approximately 1.4 kilometers northwest of the main pit area. The first hole is being drilled from the same collar location as discovery hole TG2617 (35.1 meters at 1.62 g/t Au and 16.7 g/t Ag, and 21.4 meters at 0.32 g/t Au), at minus 75 degrees and along strike to the northwest. The hole has reached a depth of approximately 250 meters and has intersected the Ordovician Palmetto Argillite approximately 65 meters northwest of TG2617. Alteration in the overlying Tertiary volcanic unit includes abundant iron oxide, silicification and quartz veining. Visual observations of alteration are not a substitute for laboratory assays. The hole is expected to be completed next week, after which the core will be logged, sampled and submitted for assay. 

 

• Multi-element and cyanide-soluble gold and silver assays from holes TG2616 to TG2618 indicate that Midway Hills mineralization differs from the main Tonopah deposit in several key respects, including higher ratios of cyanide-soluble to total gold and silver and lower silica content. Both are positive early indicators for metallurgical recovery, which will be confirmed through metallurgical test work. 

 

• A second drill rig is on site and drilling the first of four downstream groundwater monitoring wells. The crew will also drill and complete a second aquifer pump test well, 2 adjacent water level measurement boreholes, and an additional upstream monitoring well. These holes are being logged and samples captured for assay. These wells provide additional infrastructure for aquifer pump testing and rapid infiltration basin testing, which together with existing test data will support a robust numerical groundwater model of the site, a key requirement of the environmental review under the National Environmental Policy Act. 

 

• An archaeological survey team is mobilizing to the site this week to complete a Class III archaeological survey over the portions of the Tonopah land package that have never been surveyed or have not been surveyed in the last 10 years, as part of the baseline studies required for permitting. 

 

• The 2026 golden eagle and raptor survey report and completed geochemistry studies have been submitted to the U.S. Bureau of Land Management (“BLM”) for review. 

 

“We are well funded and moving quickly to carry Tonopah through the PFS and baseline studies and complete a Mine Plan of Operations, which will be submitted to the BLM to begin the mine permitting process. Moving Tonopah into permitting is the most direct path to de-risking the project and building shareholder value, and it is what separates a mine developer from an explorer. Follow-up drilling at Midway Hills adds a second avenue for growth alongside that work,” stated James Hesketh, President & CEO.

         

Qualified Person

James Hesketh, MMSA-QP, has approved the scientific and technical disclosure contained in this press release. Mr. Hesketh is not independent of the Company; he is an Officer and Director.

 

About Viva Gold Corp:

Viva Gold’s 100%-owned Tonopah Gold Project is located within a large land position in established gold-mining country on the prolific Walker Lane Structural Trend in western Nevada, approximately a 30-minute drive south of Kinross Gold’s Round Mountain Mine. Viva has defined a high-confidence gold mineral resource and has demonstrated the potential for an economically viable open-pit, heap leach/mill gold project through its 2025 preliminary economic assessment (PEA). PFS has been initiated on the project with a final report due in fourth quarter of 2026. Viva Gold is committed to advancing the Tonopah Gold Project in an environmentally and socially responsible manner, consistent with management’s core values.

 

Viva Gold is led by CEO James Hesketh, a 40-year mining industry veteran who has led the development and construction of eight mines globally. The Board and management team include experienced mining professionals with expertise in exploration, project development, construction, and mine operations.

Viva Gold trades on the TSX Venture Exchange (VAU), the OTCQB (VAUCF), and the Frankfurt Exchange (7PB). Viva currently has approximately 213 million shares outstanding. The Company is advancing its Tonopah Gold Project in mining-friendly Nevada with the support of institutional shareholders. More information is available on https://www.sedar.com and at www.vivagoldcorp.com.

 

For further information please contact:

James Hesketh, President & CEO

(720) 291-1775

jhesketh@vivagoldcorp.com

Graham Farrell, Investor Relations

(416) 842-9003

graham.farrell@vivagoldcorp.com

 

Forward-Looking Information :

This news release contains certain information that may constitute forward-looking information or forward-looking statements under applicable Canadian securities legislation (collectively, “forward-looking information”), including but not limited to drilling operations and estimates of gold mineral resource at the Tonopah Gold Project. This forward-looking information entails various risks and uncertainties that are based on current expectations, and actual results may differ materially from those contained in such information. These uncertainties and risks include, but are not limited to, the strength of the global economy, inflationary pressures, pandemics,  and issues and delays related to permitting activities; the price of gold; operational, funding and liquidity risks; the potential for achieving targeted drill results, the degree to which mineral resource estimates are reflective of actual mineral resources; the degree to which factors which would make a mineral deposit commercially viable are present; the risks and hazards associated with drilling and mining operations; and the ability of Viva to fund its capital requirements. Risks and uncertainties about the Company’s business are more fully discussed in the Company’s disclosure materials filed with the securities regulatory authorities in Canada available at www.sedar.com. Readers are urged to read these materials. Viva assumes no obligation to update any forward-looking information or to update the reasons why actual results could differ from such information unless required by law.

 

Cautionary Note to Investors --- Investors are cautioned not to assume that any "measured mineral resources", "indicated mineral resources", or "inferred mineral resources" that the Company reports in this news release are or will be economically or legally mineable. United States investors are cautioned that while the SEC now recognizes "measured mineral resources", "indicated mineral resources" and "inferred mineral resources", investors should not assume that any part or all of the mineral deposits in these categories will ever be converted into a higher category of mineral resources or into mineral reserves.  These terms have a great amount of uncertainty as to their economic and legal feasibility.  Under Canadian regulations, estimates of inferred mineral resources may not form the basis of feasibility or pre-feasibility studies, except in limited circumstances.  Further, "inferred mineral resources" have a great amount of uncertainty as to their existence and as to their economic and legal feasibility.  It cannot be assumed that any part or all of an inferred mineral resource will ever be upgraded to a higher category. The mineral reserve and mineral resource data set out in this news release are estimates, and no assurance can be given that the anticipated tonnages and grades will be achieved or that the indicated level of recovery will be realized.

 

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.